Friday, July 24, 2015

Necklace of Islands, String of Solidarity

In a few days I'll be heading to Japan to teach there but also learn more about peace, demilitarization and antinuclear movements there. Later this year I'll be traveling to Okinawa to work more with independence and demilitarization groups there. Somewhere on the horizon is a trip I'm planning to take to Taiwan to meet with indigenous groups.

I wrote an article several years ago on solidarity in the Asia-Pacific region, and argued a core feature of it was imagination and sharing an imaginary. One of the most intriguing aspects of human consciousness is the way we can feel disconnected to those right next to us and intimately connected to people on the other side of the world. Proximity or similarity don't necessarily dictate these things, because there is always the possibility of solidarity, that disparate groups can nonetheless find a common cause of purpose or goal together. If we consider all the islands that have been damaged by US military testing, training and bombing and string them all together into a necklace of solidarity, we would have something both beautiful and tragic. We have an imagined continent of islands and peoples that we should feel compelled to fight for. To protect and defend.

I am thinking of this today because I recently came across this Land is Life Declaration from Vieques, Puerto Rico more than 12 years ago. Two Chamorro activists went and joined other activists from around the world to share their commitment to a world based on peace and justice.

I've pasted the text and the signatories below for people to read.

******************

13 November, 2003 Special Report
from the Peace and Justice Camp

La Tierra Es Vida Declaration
November 8 - 12, 2003
Fort Count Mirasol Vieques
We, the participants of La Tierra Es Vida (Land is Life) came from the
Philippines, the Marshall Islands, Guahan (Guam), Hawai`i, the Dine people,
Puerto Rico and the United States, and gathered in Vieques, Puerto Rico to stand
in solidarity with the people of Vieques at a historic moment in their struggle
for a free Vieques, and to share our stories of survival and struggle against
U.S. militarism and imperialism.

We celebrate the Viequenses’ courageous and victorious struggle to end the
Navy bombing of their island, and commit ourselves to support them in their
continuing efforts for the clean up, return of land, compensation and health
care, and sustainable economic development of their island.

We heard about the horrific effects of sixty-seven U.S. atomic and nuclear tests
in the Marshall Islands, and give unconditional support to the Marshall
Islanders’ efforts for increased compensation, health care, and the
environmental cleanup in order to return to their homelands.

We stand with the Chamorus of Guahan (Guam), who fight to reclaim their
ancestral lands at Ritidian and other locations, that were taken and
contaminated by the U.S. military, some of which has been transferred to other
federal agencies.

We unite with the Filipino people, who a decade after expelling U.S. military
bases, continue to struggle for the clean up of contamination and compensation
for the survivors of military contamination at Clark and Subic.

We stand with the Kanaka Maoli of Hawai`i in their struggle for sovereignty and
who stand against the military occupation and destruction of their `aina (land)
at Pohakuloa, Waikane, Nohili, Makua, Kaho`olawe and other areas.

We join with the Dine struggle for full compensation for their survivors of
radiation poisoning, for the restoration of their sacred lands that were mined
for uranium, for an end to nuclear testing and nuclear waste disposal in their
area, and an end to additional oil and gas drilling within their four sacred
mountains.

We affirm that land is life, and that all peoples have an inalienable right to
human security that includes having basic needs met, a healthy environment that
can sustain life, and the ability to perpetuate our languages and cultural
traditions.

We condemn the rampant militarization of our planet and even of space by the
U.S. and other nations. Militarism and imperialism are the antithesis of human
security, and we refuse to take part in such crimes against humanity and the
global environment.

We believe and assert that the U.S. government and its agencies including the
military has a moral and legal obligation to address and correct the legitimate
grievances of every community impacted by the presence of the military. To this
end, we call on the U.S. government to take the following actions:

- In partnerships with affected communitties, conduct comprehensive environmental
studies to determine the extent of damage and degradation as a result of the
presence of the military.

- Restore and return all lands, coastal zones and other natural and cultural
resources destroyed or damaged by the actions of the U.S. government including
the military.

- Provide the necessary resources to enaable communities to move from economic
dependency on the military to sustainable, community-based economic development.

- Take full responsibility for the devasstating health consequences of the people
exposed to the impact of U.S. militarism including but not limited to atomic and
nuclear testing, the testing and use of biological and chemical weapons, uranium
mining, the production and use of depleted uranium weapons, toxic waste, and air
and water pollution.

- Recognize the right of all peoples to self-determination and independence from
economic and political colonialism.

We call on other like-minded people and organizations to join us. It is through
our collective efforts that we will create a global community based upon the
values of cooperation over competition, compassion over greed, peace and justice
over war, human needs over profits, and love over hate.

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Put Guahu / About Me

This blog is dedicated to Chamorro issues, the use and revitalization of the Chamoru language and the decolonization of Guam. This blog also aims to inform people around the world about the history, culture and language and struggles of the Chamorro people, who are the indigenous islanders of Guam, Saipan, Tinian, Luta and Pagan in the Mariana Islands. Pues Haggannaihon ha', ya taitai na'ya, ya Si Yu'us Ma'ase para i finatto-mu.

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The Revolution Will Not Be Haolified

THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE HAOLIFIEDTinige’ as Guahu - 2003 (updated 2008)

You will not be able to ignore it che’lu * This time you will not be able to blame it all on Anghet * You will not be able to change channels * And watch Fear Factor, Rev TV of Salamat Po Guam because * The Revolution will not be televised

The revolution will not be televised, nor will it be advertised * It will not be sponsored by the Good Guys at Moylan’s or the better guys at AK. * It will not be something easily explained by radio callers * Whether they be Positively Local, Definitively Settler, or Surprisingly Coconut * It will not be cornered by the Calvos and explained by Sabrina Salas * Matanane * After the story about the incoming B-52’s or 1000’s of Marines careening towards to Guam, and how we * should be economically energized and not terrorized. * Jon Anderson will have no TT anecdotes about it * and Chris Barnett won’t malafunkshun it because the revolution will not be televised

The revolution will not be televised or editorialized * It will not be something canabilized with two inches here two inches there * Dubious headlines everywhere * Lee Weber will not edit it * Joe Murphy will not put it in his pipe and smoke it * Nor dream about it, or tell others the wonders and blunders of it. * There will be no letters to the editor quoting scriptures or denying its constitutionality * And there will be no American flag inserts saying these three colors just don’t run * As the revolution will not be editorialized

The revolution will not be televised or politicized * It will not play the same old gayu games * And promise you that same old talonan things. * The revolution will not wave at you as you drive by on Marine Drive * And seduce you with its hardworking eyes. * It will not be territorial or popular, and not encourage you with maolek blue. * The revolution will not put marang salaman po after its speeches to get more Filipino votes in the next election because the revolution will not be politicized

The revolution will not be televised, not be theorized * It will not be something GCC or UOG friendly. * There will be no books at Bestseller offering to help you lose something in 90 days * Or Rachel Ray helping you cook the revolution of your way. * Ron McNinch will not survey it * and will not poll people about their revolution of choice. * There will be no WASC review report demanding accountability demanding autonomy * And no beachcombing carpetbaggers will proclaim their own terminal authority * Over the histories, the laws, the thinking of those for whom they see nothing but corrupt and corrupting inferiority * The revolution will not be colonized

The revolution will not be televised, not be supersized. * The revolution will not be something you can buy at Ross, or get at blue light cost * It is not just red rice, kelaguan uhang, or popcorn with Tobacco sauce. * It doesn’t come with Coke and it doesn’t fit on a fiesta plate. * The revolution will not make you gof sinexy, cure your jafjaf, or make fragrant your fa’fa’ * The revolution will not force you to be where America’s empire begins * Or where Japan’s golf courses and Gerry Yingling’s credit card debt ends. * You won’t need a credit card, or be charged for the tin foil to cover your balutan * As the revolution will not be economized

The revolution will not be televised, blownback or militarized * There will be no more physical ordnance buried in people’s lands * And no more patrionizing propaganda buried in people’s minds * The revolution will not get you cheaper cases of chicken or increased commissary privileges. * It will not make freedomless flags feel more comfortable in your hands * Or make uniforms fit more snugly around your mind. * The revolution will not deny racism or exploitation * And not create histories about landfalls of destiny * But instead publicize the racism and evils of American hegemony. * The revolution will not be subsidized by construction contracts or the race of Senator Inouye or Congressman Burton * It will not be laid waste to by daisy cut budgets or Medicare spending limits * Instead it will be sustained by deep memories that refuse to die * The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be televised and will not polarize based on blood or color * It will not make your skin lighter * It will not make your skin darker * It will not test your blood the way Hitler or Uncle Sam would of done * It will not hate some and love others based on their time of naturalization * Or incept date of their compacts of free association. * But the revolution will help some find comfort, find strength, find power * In their connections to the land and to each other * Allow some to discover the sovereignty that can be found in solidarity * The revolution will take and remake this consciousness that doesn’t need to be televised * But does need to be revolutionized * The revolution will not be haolified * The revolution will not be haolified